The potential of a smarter grid

Tuesday

Jul 16, 2013 at 6:00 AMJul 16, 2013 at 6:01 AM

By Jennie C. Stephens

As National Grid develops its Smart Energy Solutions pilot program in Worcester, the transformative potential of a smarter grid to reduce electricity use, lower costs, and prepare for climate change is beginning to take shape.

Innovation in our antiquated electricity infrastructure is essential for efficiently powering our increasingly electricity-dependent society and for expanding clean, low-carbon, renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. "Smart grid" includes a variety of interlinked technologies including advanced meters and sensors, as well as other technologies that enable more renewable electricity and promote system efficiency, resiliency, and flexibility. Smart grid also has potential for social change by empowering individuals and communities to have more localized control and engagement in their energy choices.

National Grid's Worcester pilot program, which will include 15,000 households, represents a significant change in the traditional role of electric utility companies.

Historically, innovation in electricity systems has been limited by the regulatory structures that govern electric utilities that were designed to support continued expansion of electricity use with standard basic technology.

Given today's economic and environmental realities, assumptions of perpetual growth using the same old technology no longer make sense. State regulators are adjusting and trying now to support grid modernization.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) approved National Grid's Worcester pilot program and is developing strategies to encourage other innovations. On July 2, the DPU received recommendations from a multi-stakeholder process on promoting and regulating investments in smart grid innovation.

These developments are important because electricity systems are increasingly critical infrastructure. We rely on constant access to electricity for communication, food, health and other basic needs. Despite this growing dependence, most of us do not think much about electricity systems. We tend to pay attention to "the grid" only when the power goes out.

A series of recent storms causing electricity disruptions (Hurricane Irene in August 2011, the damaging snowstorm in October 2011, and Superstorm Sandy in October 2012) highlighted our dependence and our vulnerability. When the power goes out we quickly become paralyzed — unable to charge our cellphones, pay our bills, run our businesses and households. The trend toward more frequent and intense storms is expected to continue as climate instability progresses. Preparing the grid to become more resilient to disruptions has become one of several motivations for growing interest in "smart grid" innovation.

Other motivations for smart grid include the potential for reduced costs achieved through efficiency improvements and lowering peak demand to reduce the need for maintaining power plants to meet infrequent high demand.

A smarter grid could also promote more engaged electricity consumers who install their own renewable generation and gain control of their electricity use through metering with pricing that offers incentives to manage the timing of electricity use. An additional critical motivation is lower carbon emissions achieved through more renewables, more efficient use, and potentially electric vehicles.

Although "smart grid" has the potential to contribute to both climate adaptation (by preparing for more frequent and intense storms) and climate mitigation (by lowering carbon emissions), climate considerations are generally not the dominant priorities driving smart grid innovation.

Depending on how the grid is modernized, it is possible that a future smarter grid could actually exacerbate rather than reduce risks of climate change.

A future smarter grid could, for example, result in greater consumption of carbon-emitting electricity if some near-term benefits are prioritized over long-term climate goals. Also it is possible that smart grid innovation could reduce resilience and increase vulnerability, if a rigid, inflexible, centralized system emerges rather than an adaptable, flexible, decentralized systems.

So as the path to grid modernization is piloted in Worcester and mapped out at the state-level, long-term climate priorities need to remain central.

Given Massachusetts' leadership on state-level climate initiatives, integration of climate goals is a priority for the state's grid modernization efforts.

But greater public participation and broader representation of societal interests beyond those of the energy companies could strengthen the prioritization of climate goals.

Here in Worcester, a unique opportunity for public engagement is emerging. National Grid is opening a public space, a "Sustainability Hub," at 912 Main Street in Main South. Donated by Clark University, this space will be designed for interactive learning about emerging energy technologies.

So stay tuned and pay attention. Our critical electricity infrastructure is changing. And we need to ensure these changes move us away from a rigid, inflexible, fossil-fuel-dependent electricity system.

We need a more adaptable, resilient, renewables-based system that empowers us to have more localized control and engagement in our energy system.

Jennie C Stephens is an associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University. Her research on smart grid is supported by the National Science Foundation's Science, Technology and Society Program, and her upcoming book on this topic will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2014.